Locomotive-furnace.



w. 0. W000. LOCOMOTIVE FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 13, I917.

Patented Jan. 21, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

W. -D. WOOD.

. LOCOMOTIVE FURNACE. APPLICATION F ILED JULY I3. 19!].

Patented Jqn. 21,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATE PATENT QFFKQE,

WALTlQfi D. WOOD, 0F ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO FUEL SAVING GOM- PANY, 0F ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

LOQOMOTIVE-FURNACE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 21, 1919.

Application filed July 13, 1917. Serial No. 180,297.

To all whom may concern;

Be it known that I,- WALTER D. \Vooo, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Allentown, in the county of Lehigh and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locomotive-Furnaces of which the followin is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

My present invention refers to certain new and useful improvements in the firing chambers or boxes-of locomotives and other furnaces, having for its primary object the regulation of the supply of air, so that the combustion of the fuel may take place in the most approved and efiicient manner, the 1nvention being particularly applicable to I ate and carry out the object in view, substantially as will be hereinafter described.

and then more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating? my invention:

igure 1 is a vertical section of my 11nproved firing chamber for powdered fuel;

Fig. 2 is a. transverse section of the same on the line 2, 2 of Fig. 1;

, Fig. :3 is an outside end view showing more particularly the operating mechanism for the dampers;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of my improved firing chamber and illustrates more particularly the damper mechanism; M

Fig 5 is a detail view of the lever for operating the damper mechanism with its clicking spring catch;

Similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the different figures of the drawing.

1 denotes the firing box of any ordinary locomotive or other engine furnace or the like. Said firing chamber is not usually built in the common manner, but the space which is generally occupied by the grates, ash pan, etc, is in this newly devised form replaced by an auxiliary chamber 2, depressed quite a little below the usual level of the bottom of the fire box, which de pressed chamber is sheathed with fire brick. Above the depressed auxiliary chamber at a suitable height is'an inclined arch consisting ordinarily of a series of inclined water tubes 6 that support the fire brick 5, there being at the rear end of the arch, which is the upper end, an opening 7 through which the flame may pass from below the arch to the space above the same. The fuel consisting of finely pulverized coal, anthracite culm, or other finely granulated material, is fed into the chamber 2 under a strong air or steam blast, entry being made at the door 4, at which point the fuel-laden vehicle enters, and also, if desired, additional quantities of properly measured and regulated air coming directly from the atmosphere'orotherwise. Further, it will be seen that in the bottom of the chamber 2 there is an opening 9 for the removal of slag or any other foreign matter formed in the process of combustion, which it is necessary or desirable to take away so that the operation of the furnace will not be obstructed, and

, with said opening'9 a slag pan or other receptacle (not shown) is generally operated.

In order to facilitate the combustion of the fine fuel within the firing chamber in accordance with the principles of the present invention, I introduce an additional quantity or quantities of atmospheric air at the front end of the fire box and in order to do this, I provide a suitable number of ducts 8 formed by fire brick or in other ways in the front wall 3 of the fire box, said ducts having openings 8 at the lower end-through which the air is directly introduced from the atmosphere, and having openings 8" at the upper end through which air is delivered into the interior of the firing chamber 1 at a. point immediately below the arch; hence,

it will be understood that atmospheric air is brought in directly from the outside and follows up beneath the rows of bricks along the ducts 8 (see Fig. 2) and is then allowed to flow into the firing chamber immediately point somewhere near that marked. A in 1, which is a point a certain distance from the front end toward the rear opening 7, say one-third of the, distance, it being noted that the burning through of the arch takes place more quickly at this than at any other place, for it would seem that here there is the most intense heat, and the impinging or firing action on the brick work has the most destructive eiifect. By admitting air in the manner indicated, I provide continuallya film of comparatively cool air; that is to say, air which is cool in comparison withthe temperature of the flame, and this cool air spreading and sweepingalong underneath the arch will tend. to reduce the temperature of this particularly sensitive part sufiiciently to prevent any destructive action of the fireon the fire brick.

Secondly, by passing the air upalongside of the front inside brick wall 3, I am enabled to keepthis brick work comparatively cool and. prevent destructive action of the flame on its opposite flameexposed surface, as at B (see Fig. 1) for it is found that-if the brick work 3 is kept compare tively cool on one side any destructive action of fire or flame on the opposite side can only proceed a certain distance when its progress w ll be arrested by striking the cool area of the brick.

Another'very vital feature in this con-' arch through the opening '3 in a semi-con.-

sumed state, or in other words without having enough oxygen to complete the combustion. Till-l causes a considerable deposit of these-called honeycomb, which. is nothing,

more or less than unburned coal, on the flue sheet. (lrdinarily the gases follow along the path marked by arrows at E. By admitting air copiously at the front through the plurality of ducts already provided and causing this air to travelalono' underneath the arch and close thereto, I am enabled to add more air at the point I) immediately below the opening 7 which air will mingle with the partly consumed coal and complete the combustion. This is very necessary, as it should be apparent that once the coal enters the zone which I have indicated at D, it is impossible to add more air forcombustion from below, and unless some method similar to that which I have devised and'ain now describing is availed of to admit additional air in the zone D to combine with this unburned coal and change CO to CO, it must necessarily follow that we will be hampered by smoke and honeycomb troubles.

Referring next to Figs. 1 and 2 it will be noted that I provide openings for air at other places besides the front ducts 8. These additional openingsare the rear opening or openings 10 in the rear wall of the chamber 2 near thebottom thereof and contiguous to the main fuel door i. There is also a lower row of openings 11 in both of the longitudinal side walls of the chamber 2, and another upper row of openings 12 at a distance above each row of" openings 11. All the openings 12 on each side of the furnace are controlled by a single damper on each side of the firing chamber as are also all the openings 11 on each side of the firing chamber, and all of said dampers on both sides are preferably linked together by suit able operating levers which may be jointly actuated. I

Thus it will be seen by referring to Figs. 3 and 4 that there is an upper damper 13 on each side of the furnace, which functions with the upper row of openings l2'and a lower damper 14: which functions with the lower row of o eninqs 11, The dam ers 13 ported in suitable bearings 15, while the lower dampers 14 are carried by horizon tal rods 18 supported in bearings 16. The shafts 15 and 16 on the opposite sides of the furnace are connected together for joint operation by suitable means, as for example,

the link 25, which is pivoted at one end to a crank arm 24 that is rigidly secured to one of the shafts '15 while the other end of said link 25 is connected to a crankarm 3O rigidly carried by the other shaft 15 on the opposite side of the furnace. Also a link 29 is connected to a crank arm. 31 carried by one of the horizontal shafts 16 at one operating handle 17' which is movably j mounted at 32 on some suitable part of the exterior of the furnace, and said operating handle 17 is provided with a spring detent 18 which acts in connection with the notches 20 of the notched sector 19. Thus the attendant. can by a suitable manipulation of the'handle' 17 operate the dampers 13 and 14 at the same time on both sides of the A furnace and control the supply of air entering through the openings 11 and 12.

It will be observed that when these dampers 13 and 14 are closed, two complete damper boxes are formed, as will be seen by reference to the position of these parts in Fig. 2, so that practically no air when they are so closed will be admitted to the ,fire box. When they are open, as they are indicated in Fig.2, anainple supply of auxiliary air may be introduced. The openings 10, of which there may be any suitable number, in front of the firebox are shown as unprovided with dampers, as arealso the ducts 8 and the entrance 8 at the lower ends of the ducts, but it will be readily understood that if desired these openings 8 and 10 may also be furnished with suitable valves or dampers for controlling the supply of air passing through them. When the fireman or other attendant desires to change the air supply, all that he needs to do is to vibrate the lever 17 in one direction or the other, pushing it either ahead or back, and the steel spring 18 with which it is provided will function as a detent andwill slide over the notches in quadrant 19 and stay in any fixed position as desired. A useful feature of this arrangement is that the fireman can tell by the number of clicks as the spring snaps into the notches, just how many notches he is moving the damper, and consequently how much he is opening or closing the air openings without being required to specially inspect the same or investigate.

by looking at the dampers, said audible means giving him all the information required. p

It will, therefore, be seen that I attain by the air supply arrangements which I have described manyruseful and valuable advantages in promoting combustion and making the same uniform in different parts of the furnace, and also preventing the undue heating and burning out of some of the parts, and sucha regulation of the air supply is proven to be of great importance in the burning of fine fuel in locomotives and other furnaces.

Many changes in the detailed construction of various parts may be made without ex ceeding the scope of the invention, and I reserve the liberty to make these changes. I am not restricted to any form or shape of furnace or its interior arch, and neither am I confined to any particular number of the ducts '8 or any special shape or location of the same, or of openings 10, 11 and 12, inasmuch as the same may be made in any desired manner and may be either made by the removal of one or more bricks or may be cut through the bricks or maybe fitted with bushings or pipes or otherwise in order to secure the best results in practice.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

' 1. In locomotive furnace for powdered fuel, the combination with a fire box having a depressed auxiliary chamber receiving the powdered fuel and having also'an arch extending from front to rear. of a plurality of ductst lying along the front wall of the furnace nd conveying outside air to a point irhmediailv below the arch where it is permitted to flow beneath said arch to protect the latter from burning out. and to promote the process of combustion, said. ducts being wall of the furnaces so that the rear sides of .ducts arranged in connection with the front these ducts are open for their entire length to the front wall of the combustion chamber and the throat sheetof the locomotive fire box, said ducts being open to the atmosphere at-one point and open to the interior 'of the furnace at another so that outside air may be conveyed into the furnace immediately below the arch where it is permitted to spread into a film of cool air to prevent destructive action of the flame on the fire brick of, the arch.

3. In a locomotive furnace for powdered fuel, the combination with a firing chamber havinga depressed auxiliary chamber which receives the powdered fuel at one point," of

a series of upwardly extending ducts arranged in connection with the,front wall of the furnace, said ducts being open to the atmosphere at one point and to the interior of the furnace at another and conveying.

cool outside air to protect the-front .wall from destructive action of the flame against the inside thereof, and'said ducts beginning at a point directly beneath the inclined arch and running downwardly to a point in the front of the combustion chamber where'air is admitted, so that the entering air will ome in ontact on three sides of the duct with hot fire brick while on the fourth side it will be kept comparatively cool by being,

sheet of the cornbustion chamber and the throat sheet of the fire box during the entire length of its travel till it is delivered into the fire box proper.

i. In. a furnace or chamber employing fine fuel, the combination of a fire box having a depressed auxiliary chamber receiving the powdered fuel at one point and having also an arch extending from front to rear and provided with an opening through the same, of a series of upwardly extending ducts arranged in connection with the front Wall of the furnace and receiving outside atmospheric air and conveying the same to the interior of the-furnace at a point immedi' 'ately below the arch to provide a film of comparatively cool air so that the front wall and the arch maybe protected against the destructive action of the flame and the incomplete combustion of part of the fuel through short-circuiting through the opening in the arch may be prevented, sa1d atmospheric air. being kept cool by being passed over the comparatively cool surface of the front sheet of the combustion chamber and the throat sheet of the locomotive, the duct being so formed as to leave these two cool surfaces exposed to the entering air. 1

5. In a locomotive furnace for powdered fuel, the combination with a firing chamber having a depressed auxiliary chamber which receives the powdered fuel at one point, of

a series of upwardly extending ducts arrang'ed in connection with. the Iront Wall of the furnace for conveying outside air to the interior of said furnace, said ducts being formed by leaving hollow spaces in the front Wall of the furnace, the front sheet of the combustion chamber and the throat sheet of the furnace being utilized to form one of the four sides of this duct, and lateral valve devices for admitting additional outside air to the interior of the furnace, together with mechanism for operating said valve devices.

,6. In alocomotive furnace for powdered fuel, the combination with a firing chamber receiving the powdered fuel at one point,

of a series of air-admitting ducts arranged in connection With the front Wallof the furnace, one or more air-admission openings located contigiiou s to the main door in the rear wall, an upper series of openings in each longitudinal side Wall of the furnace, and a second serics=of openings below the lattcrscriesand nearer to the bottom of the furnace,togctherwith suitable valvemechanism for the longitaudinal series of open; ings, all of the dampers or vlilve mechanism tunes.

being jointly connected so th they can all be entirely open, entirely closed or fixed at any point between these for moving a single controllingleve'r .fuel, the combination with a firing chamber, of a series of air-ducts arranged in connection with the front wall of the furnace, air-admission openings in the rear wall of the furnace, a series of lateral openings in each longitudinal side of thefi'zrnare, valve devices forthe latter openings, said devices consisting of lon, itudinal shutters, and means for operating them including lever devices and a singleactuating handle, all of the dampers or valve mechanism being jointlyconnected so that they can all be entirely open, entirely closed or fixed at any point betweenthese two specified by moving a single controlling lever placed in the cab of the locomotive adjacent to the seat occupied by the fireman, thus enabling instantaneous adjustable control of the amount of atmospheric air all times.

8. In alocomotive furnace i'orpou'dered fuel, the combination with a firing chamher which receives the powdered fuel at one point, of a series ofair ducts in the front Wall, said air ducts having inlets and. outlets, means for admitting air at the lcngitudinal sidesiof the furnace, and damper means for controlling said .ai'-admisSion means, said damper means consisting essentially of hinged shutters having operating mechanism composed of iilteractinp levers under the control of a single lever handle provided with a clicking catch, allot the dampers or valve mechanism being jointly connected so that they can all be entirely open,- entirely closed or fixed at any point between these two specified by moving a. single controlling lever placed in the cab of the locomotive adjacent to the seat occupied by the fireman, thus enabling instantaneous adjustable control of the amount of atmospheric air enterimg the fire box at all 9. In a" locomotive furnac for powdered fuel and the like, the combination of a firing chamber havinga main inlet-for the fuel, air-admission ducts ,located'in the Wall opposite to the main inlet and admitting air in such a manner asfto protect. said wall and also to conv, air to the interior of the furnace so as to prevent incomplete combustion of the fuel bet ore it is carried over the arch, means for admitting air at the longitudinalsides of ,the furnace consist-- entering thofire box at damper devices at the opposite sides of the furnace, two on each side, said damper devices being provided With longitudinal shafts, lever connections between said shafts for jointly rotating the damper shafts and controlling the dampers, and a single con a detent.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

- WALTER 1). W001). 

